Freezer Inventory

The big moment finally came today. I decided it was officially time to inventory the contents of our freezers. Yep, big excitement here today. And, yes, I said freezers. We are the proud owners, well, I'm the proud one and Matt is just co-owner, of a fridge/freezer in our kitchen, another in the garage, and a deep freeze in our basement.

I say proud because the deep freeze was free (thanks, Aunt Angie!) and the fridge/freezer in the garage was purchased second hand and so we spent way less than if we had bought it brand new.

Having the two additional appliances has allowed us to stock up when grocery items are on sale, provide extra food storage room when hosting a get together, and to store extra milk, oj, and such, which can translate into fewer trips to the store.

Before:

The kitchen fridge/freezer.

Target had a good french fry and ketchup promotion the other week, okay?

The deep freeze in our basement.

The garage fridge/freezer.

I took all of the food out of the deep freeze and some out of the other two, moving a few items into different locations, based on how often we use certain items. As I started that process and was considering how I was going to reassemble the deep freeze I began to understand just how helpful an inventory of freezer food just might be.

Earlier this year I came across the idea of a home/family organizer here, in which a freezer inventory was mentioned. Then the idea of organizing this cold space to save money, make meal time more functional and just make life easier was blogged about.

After:

French fries and hashbrowns are all together out in the garage, so now I can see my supply and know when it'll be time to stock up again.

The cupcakes went to a smaller container and the ginger crinkles are out on the counter top now.

I love that now when I open the deep freeze I can see how much butter we have on hand and can quickly find the bacon (yes, all 13 packages), flour, hamburger, and so forth. I also opened up space by taking out six plastic containers, like the Coke bottle. (We add water to milk jugs, Coke bottles, etc and then freeze them. This little trick and a cooler make it possible for me to stop at more than one store when I'm in town.) Now we have two "ice packs" ready to go, instead of eight.

I typed up my inventory so I can print it out and add it to our family binder, which should help in planning our weekly menus and thus prevent me from buying something we need that isn't on sale. Just today I was making out the grocery list for Hy Vee tomorrow and I was planning on buying sausage to make meatballs with, but guesss what I just happened to have in my freezer that I'd forgotten about? Ha! In the future I'll be able to check my list to see what we have and plan meals around already purchased items.

If you'd like a blank copy of the inventory go here. Happy organizing!